


Didn't I, My Dear?

by orphan_account



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, M/M, laura hale centric with other pairings thrown in, laura hale is not a reliable narrator, sort of? i mean she doesn't die
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-14
Updated: 2013-02-14
Packaged: 2017-11-29 06:34:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/683921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Laura Hale returns to Beacon Hills, she doesn't come back alone. This is what happens after.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Didn't I, My Dear?

**Author's Note:**

> title from "Little Lion Man" by Mumford and Sons
> 
> this was supposed to be laura hale takes no one's shit but it turned out to be laura hale deals back all the shit and hates herself more than derek hates himself
> 
> also, this is your laura hale is not a reliable narrator warning

Laura and Derek Hale come back to Beacon Hills on a Saturday afternoon, and when they do, the first call Laura makes is to a contractor.

She says nothing when they knock the burnt ruins of their house down, when she hands the architect plans Peter drew up for his own house before the fire, when Derek is frozen beside her.

There’s almost enough evidence to find who destroyed their lives, and though Derek thinks she knows nothing, she is his alpha. The Code forbids her from seeking justice like natural order demands, and because of this, she has to seek it _her_ way.

She may know who killed their family, and how, but human courts don’t know. They don’t know the history; Laura’ll have to lie on the stand, but damn it, the courtroom, like Beacon Hills, is her territory.

She’s not going to settle for anything less than life, and she wants to go for the death penalty, but she knows it’s a long shot without telling everyone _why_ that woman wanted them dead so badly, even if Laura can prove eleven people died because of her.

She feels like an outsider in her own hometown, but she can feel the land greet her like an old friend.

 _Alpha Hale,_ she thinks they whisper to her, _Welcome back._

Beacon Hills belongs to the Hales, and though Peter never left, the last of the Hales are back.

-

It’s only when Derek comes back to the apartment they’ve rented for the time being, grumbles about a new wolf, that Laura’s ears perk with interest.

“They were looking for his inhaler,” Derek mutters and maybe there’s something about the way he says it, but Laura knows he’s hiding something else from her.

“They?” She repeats, eyebrow quirking and lips raising in a half smile.

“The human friend.” Derek scowls, throwing his hands in the air as a gesture of surrender. “He _reeked_ of adderall.”

Laura lets it go this one time, mostly because they’re leaving to visit Uncle Peter and Derek will sit there, guilt pouring out of him in waves, while Laura chatters on excitedly about the new house they’re building— _Peter’s_ house.

-

Scott, that’s the new wolf’s name.

Laura recognizes that the change can be a bitch for bitten wolves at first, but he’s extremely pissy and though there’s no sign of the rogue who bit him, Laura is seriously considering just leaving him to figure out shit on his own.

He blames everything on Derek, because Derek is the only Hale he’s interacted with—his grades slipping, the new girl ( _Argent_ , the land hisses, because it knows the Argents were never meant to entrench upon a pack’s territory) won’t notice him, and lacrosse is a bitch.

She comes home one day and finds Scott throwing Derek into the coffee table. The younger beta’s wolfed out completely, eyes flashing gold and claws elongated.

Derek’s still in control, but even as he picks himself off the ground, his eyes flare blue momentarily.

“It’s all your fault!” Scott cries, lunging for Derek.

“What the _hell_ is going on here?” Laura snarls, and when neither of them listen, she full on _roars_ , something she never had to do because Derek had always been so complacent due to his guilt.

Both of them freeze and Scott’s glaring at Derek, “What, you have your girlfriend fighting your battles for you now?”

“Listen here, _kid_ ,” Laura emphasizes, cracking her knuckles, “I am his _sister and his alpha_. I _outrank_ you, and I don’t give a fuck how much you think Derek owes you because _he didn’t bite you_ and you are _not_ our responsibility. So get the _fuck_ out of my apartment before your mom gets up the next morning, takes in the mail, and finds out that we’re suing you for trespassing.”

“Derek let me in!” Scott protests, all traces of angry teenager gone.

“Even if that’s true,” Laura grins slowly, “you realize the woods pretty much belong to the Hale family, right?”

It’s fucking hilarious, the way the light comes on in the attic. Scott’s no idiot, it seems, because even with the new, heightened senses overwhelming him, he seems to get that it’s pretty much his own fault for getting bitten.

Plus, Laura’s not above using her dead family to get sympathy in court. They’re dead and gone and while it’ll always hurt, she’ll use the pain if it can protect Derek.

“I’m sorry.” Scott mumbles and he’s flushing a light red. His head is bowed and he’s fiddling with the string on his red hoodie—that’s so fucking cliché—as his eyes stare straight at the hardwood floor. “I won’t bother you guys again.”

He moves to leave but Laura grabs him by the bicep.

“Hey,” She says gently, giving him a little smile. “We can help you out, but if you want us to help you out, you can’t go blaming my little brother for every problem in your shitty life.”

“He _ruined—“_

“ _Hey_.” Laura says sharply, “My family is _dead_. Everyone in my family except Derek burned in that fire and do you realize my little sister would be in your grade? Don’t you dare say my brother ruined your life, Scott McCall. Don’t you fucking dare.”

He’s gaping at her, mouth open like a fish. “I…I…”

“Your little girlfriend that’s not your girlfriend,” Laura tosses out casually, “She’s cute, but as soon as her dad finds out what you are, and he _will_ , you’re dead. I don’t mean that figuratively; I mean that literally, as in, her entire family is comprised of hunters and will shoot you full of arrows.”

Scott’s eyebrows draw close when his face contorts in confusion, “How did you—“

Laura flashes him a grin, “I’m the alpha.”

Behind her, she can hear Derek groan in embarrassment. “Oh my god Laura, stop hitting on him.”

“I am _not_ hitting on him!” She whirls on her brother, “He is _jailbait_ , Derek!” She turns to Scott, “Do you think I’m hitting on you?”

“No!” Scott squeaks, “I mean…you’re kind of terrifying?”

“I’m awesome, that’s what I am.” Laura snorts.

-

Scott is even smarter than she thought because on Saturday, he shows up with the human kid Derek was talking about.

“This is Stiles,” Scott introduces and he’s clearly gotten over his fear of her because he smells all lemony and fresh like…

“She is my _sister_ ,” Derek growls protectively, sounding horrified, angry, and embarrassed all at the same time. “Fucking hell, Scott!”

“I thought you like Allison!” Stiles says, just as horrified.

Scott flushes red. “I do!”

Laura groans, “It’s admiration, guys, _gosh_. Not lust!”

“ _Thank you_!” Scott screams while Derek and Stiles exchange glances and okay, Laura knows Derek has been complaining about Stiles all week, but yeah.

He’s totally smitten.

For the record, the only reason Scott isn’t running out of the apartment with his hands clamped over his nose is because admiration and adoration smell very similar.

Hence, the previous confusion.

-

Stiles, Laura learns, is clearly the brains of the operation.

Scott isn’t stupid, but while they both do well at school (though Scott’s grades have been slipping because of his adjustment to the bite), Stiles is the one that thinks outside the box, the one that looks at a problem and doesn’t think of how to solve it, but _how many ways he can solve it._

Still, Laura is more partial to Scott, because Scott is adorable and has a martyr complex and also, Stiles’ sarcasm reminds her too much of Erin and it hurts when she looks at him and thinks that he would get along so well with her.

Derek is hopelessly smitten and it’s not even funny anymore.

Still, Laura doesn’t approve of a relationship because Derek is still too fucked up—and thinks she doesn’t know about Kate, when he was never good at keeping secrets from her anyway—and Stiles is obsessed with some girl named Lydia Martin.

(Laura remembers the sister, Penelope Martin, and makes a mental note to physically _throw_ her brother at Stiles if it comes to that, someday, because if Lydia is anything like Penelope, Laura will have done it in Stiles’ best interests.)

“I want to go to the party Lydia’s having on Friday,” Scott says and it’s cute because he’s acting like he needs permission from her. She needs to tell him soon that being an alpha doesn’t mean she’s his mom as well.

“Full moon on Friday,” Laura says without even looking up from her magazine. “Next one.”

“But my control’s getting better!” Scott says earnestly. “Please?”

“First full moon,” Laura looks up and sighs, “You have a good heart, Scott. It would kill you if you lost it and woke up with a dead rabbit in your hands.”

“Raw?” Scott looks horrified.

“Are you going to bake it in your little werewolf oven first?” Stiles calls from the kitchen. “You’re out of your mind!”

“Stiles gets to go!” Scott pouts.

“Uh, no.” Stiles says through a mouthful of fries as he flops into the armchair. “Stiles only gets to go if Scott goes because Scott is now co-captain and Stiles is still second-line.”

“Laura thinks this third-person speech is getting weird.” She steals a handful of fries and offers them to Scott, who looks on the verge of crying. She knows it’s an act though; she’s seen him use it on Stiles.

“Allison asked me specifically if I was going to go!” Scott tries again, but then Stiles snorts.

“Okay, I love you Scott, and I would _never_ want to get in the way of true love but…” Stiles holds up his hands, “I…may have implied very heavily to Allison you were going on a date that night?”

Scott squawks, “What? _Why? With whom?_ ”

“Well, I just thought, you know, _full moon!”_ Stiles runs a greasy hand through his hair and Laura winces. She’s gonna have to make him wash his hair later. “I…with… _Laura?”_

“You are ruining my life!” Scott wails, “Why does everyone think I’m in love with Laura? I’m _not_.”

Scott doesn’t see the effect his words have on Stiles, too engrossed in the thought that probably everyone in school thinks he’s dating a girl that’s—heaven forbid, out of _college._

He doesn’t see the way Stiles’ sheepish, panicked smile slips a little into a painful smile, something fake and put on for someone else’s benefit. He doesn’t know how to pick apart some of the more complex smells yet—in fact, he probably doesn’t even notice the guilt.

The only three people he hangs out with—Stiles, Laura, and Derek—are always smelling of guilt anyway.

Laura realizes then that Stiles honestly thinks this is his fault.

“Oh honeys,” Laura sighs, pulling Scott down from where he’s perched on the arm of the couch. She’s practically dragging his head to rest on her shoulder and she gestures for Stiles to join them. When he does, she has her arms full with teenage boy and she’s smiling sadly into Scott’s hair. “Someday, things will get better.”

“Promise?” Scott mumbles.

“Promises are for suckers,” Stiles mutters, and Laura can feel her shirt dampen slightly. He’s either drooling or crying.

She honestly hopes it’s the latter.

(That’s how Derek finds them later, Scott and Stiles asleep on her shoulders while Laura is watching _How I Met Your Mother._

He mentions something about her looking like a cougar and she knows how much it costs him to make jokes like that, when she knows he’s looking at the situation and thinking of himself at fifteen.)

-

Chris Argent and his cronies try to intimidate Derek and Laura at the gas station, but clearly, the hunters have forgotten that the entire Hale family had been 20% werewolf and 80% sass.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Laura snaps, “Are you fucking kidding me?”

His cronies don’t speak, just sneer. Clearly, they don’t have the intelligence to think of a quick remark.

“I thought you were smarter than this.” Laura rolls her eyes, bringing her hand up to count off. “One, it’s in the middle of the fucking day, Two, are you seriously going to risk being seen threatening us? Like, seriously? The town doesn’t forget easily; every time I stop by the bakery, Mrs. Gordon gives me free cupcakes because she feels bad that our entire family _died in a fire_.”

It’s almost cute that they look distinctly uncomfortable at their own stupidity.

A glance at Derek and Laura can tell he’s half-amused, half as exasperated with their lack of common sense as they are.

“And three, I don’t know _what_ you and your cronies do during the day, but _some_ of us have actual jobs. Derek’s a _cop_ , okay? A _cop._ I’m a lawyer and I’m fucking good at my job. I can sue your ass off and get a restraining order for threatening us on that camera alone.” Laura points at the camera outside the gas station store. She feels like a mom telling her two-year-old he can’t eat his legos. “Also, four, _don’t you have a fucking Code?_ Beacon Hills is _my_ territory, not yours. As long as we’re not killing anybody or turning anyone without reason, you can’t fucking touch us or the council will come down on your ass so hard, it won’t even matter you’re the hunting family of hunting families.”

“But…rogue,” is all one of the cronies can get out.

Derek can probably sense her breaking point is near, because he interjects with his own, special brand of dry wit, “My werewolf sister follows your Code better than you do. We’ve found more in a month than you have.”

“Damn right,” Laura grumbles, pulling a copy of the Code up on her phone. She’s muttering underneath her breath as she searches for the passage she wants, and when she does, she shoves it triumphantly underneath Chris Argent’s nose.

“Damn it.” Chris mutters, reading aloud the passage she highlighted earlier that week. “’ _Hunters are to serve only as enforcers…If a hunter breaks the Code, retribution is allowed in the manner decided by the Alpha of the pack against whom the offense was aimed at…”_

“What was it you were always so fond of repeating?” Derek asks, “’Rabid dogs need to be put down’, or something?”

“Sometimes, rabid dogs bear human skin.” Laura says darkly, remembering James and Erin and Nick and Justin—all gone, burnt so far beyond recognition, the only way they knew who was who was through the coroner, not even by scent. “You hunters spend so much time rhapsodizing about the Code. I think you forget it’s our Code too.”

Chris’ expression tells her that she’s right.

It also tells her that he’s just remembered that not only is the Code their Code too, but that not everyone on the council is human.

-

She introduces Scott and Stiles to Peter as pack.

He doesn’t respond, but Scott and Stiles are kind of shocked, kind of sad, and the four of them sit there for hours and hours, talking to Peter, who can’t hear them.

“I miss you,” Derek says, squeezing their uncle’s hand.

Stiles and Scott look like they’ve swallowed a lemon.

“Who?” Scott asks.

“Kate Argent,” Derek answers, looking at Laura as if gauging her reaction. She already knows, but still, it’s nice that Derek’s willing to open up about it now.

She likes to think of it as part of the healing process that’s going on in his heart, so that his heart can welcome Stiles.

-

Gerard Argent poisons everyone he meets.

Laura repeats this in her head like a mantra.

Every so often, someone will come along who believes he is superior to those around him. Every so often, someone will obtain power and use it to better his own life.

They will manipulate and lie and steal and corrupt innocents.

Laura laughs into her scotch; it’s mid-afternoon on her day off, Stiles and Scott and Derek are playing lacrosse because Stiles wants the training and Scott wants the control training and Derek wants to pretend to be normal again.

Victoria Argent has all the makings of a rabid dog. From what Scott’s told her, she’s fucking _creepy_ and if she’s anything like Kate, Laura knows she’s willing to do anything to bring down ‘the mutts’.

Kate wasn’t so bad, Laura thinks in a moment of weakness. She was good enough to convince Laura she wasn’t a crazy hunter.

Allison is sweet and nice and everything Scott swore she is. She and Scott don’t really talk to each other. Scott thinks she’s awesome still, but he’s been pretty good about taking her advice. They all know Allison has no idea about her family being hunters, but Scott has grudgingly acknowledged that it’s for the best if he stays away from her for now.

Laura thinks about the three Argent women while she pours herself some more scotch.

She knows there was a grandmother, once, but the grandmother’s dead. There was another sister, older than Chris, but she’s gone too—disowned and forgotten because she refused to follow tradition. Laura remembers her faintly from old council meetings when she was seven or eight, remembers the eldest Argent girl that had a strong will and morals far better than the rest of them. At least she seemed sane.

There’s something that nigs in the back of her mind whenever she thinks about the eldest daughter. She can’t remember the name very well either—Gemma, or Gemina, or Geraldine, or something—but there’s something about her fox-like features and her amber eyes that remind her of someone.

Out of the three Argent women remaining, Laura wonders if Allison has a hope of turning out like the aunt she most likely never knew.

After all, she already looks enough like her.

-

The rogue is caught and put down, mostly because Peter has healed enough to wake up.

It sounds strange when put like that, but the truth of it is that Peter has always been the strategist, even when it was his brother that was Alpha.

(There was a lot of weeping and crying when he looked at Laura and Derek and whispered their names, confused.)

But when Peter’s caught up, when he puts his mind to it, he and Stiles concoct a plan that brings the rogue Alpha to them, close enough for all of them, sans Stiles, to attack.

In the end, Laura lets Scott do the honors, because she’s already Alpha and it doesn’t matter as much as it does to Scott, who, even though he likes Laura and Derek, would really rather be normal again.

But it turns out the legend is just legend.

Scott cries in Laura’s arms.

(Everyone always cries, but Laura never does because she’s the Alpha and the Alpha has to be strong for the pack.)

-

Jackson thinks he’s got everything all figured out, the little douche.

Laura sneers at him, brings up all his insecurities just because she can, and wonders when she became so bitter and jaded. “Poor little boy, never knew who his parents were and takes it out on the rest of the world.”

He has biting words for her but she barely hears them over the rush of blood pounding in her ears.

“The world doesn’t owe you any favors, Whittemore. Just because you got dealt a shitty hand doesn’t mean the game restarts.” It might be the worst metaphor ever but Jackson seems to get it, by the way he suddenly backs off, looking pained.

She almost regrets this.

“So you can hide behind your adopted father and his money, hide behind your school achievements, but you know, don’t you? You know deep down that no one cares and no one ever will care about your issues when they have their own.” Laura points a finger at his chest, “Let me get this one thing straight. I may be a lawyer, but I do not work for your father. You don’t get to walk into _my_ office and make demands from me. I’m a lawyer; why the hell would I be selling drugs?”

“McCall can’t suddenly get good at lacrosse!” Jackson yells, frustrated.

“My brother trains him,” Laura says sarcastically, “Just because you’ve got nowhere else to go doesn’t mean everyone is the same way.”

Jackson is still glaring at her, even though she knows what she’s said has rocked the foundations of his life, that the world owes him something because he’s adopted.

“Get out of my office before I tell your dad you came looking to buy drugs.” Laura rolls her eyes.

“He won’t care.” Jackson says bitterly. “He doesn’t care.”

“He didn’t have to adopt you,” Laura points out, “But he did.”

-

It’s a few weeks later when one of her colleagues is finishing up a case putting Lahey in jail for abuse that the fact that Laura is licensed to foster kids comes out.

The kid, in this case, is Isaac Lahey and he’s sixteen years old.

She doesn’t even want to foster kids; the only reason she even has the license is because Derek had been under eighteen when their parents died and Laura wasn’t. Still, she takes the kid and after an extensive talk with the rest of the pack—when the hell did she get a pack?—they all agree that Isaac should be told.

After all, he’s going to be living with them for the next two years.

Isaac takes it better than they thought he would, and it’s surprising when he asks for the bite.

Laura doesn’t want to give it to him, not yet, because he doesn’t understand and it’s all good if he wants it, but he doesn’t know what it entails, what it means.

“Maybe later,” She says. “Think about it, first.”

-

Isaac brings up Erica Reyes five months into his stay with Laura and Derek.

He’s friends with her and the other day, she had a seizure that led to her falling off the rock climb. The healing factor’s always been something that interested Isaac and he’s asked a lot of questions about it. Prior to the mention of Erica, Laura’s always thought it was in case he ever saw his dad again, but now…

“It makes them rare, very rare.” Laura says, passing the salt to Derek. “And Erica needs to think about this.”

-

Erica decides she wants it and when she opens her eyes as a beta wolf, she smiles shyly at Stiles and admits that she’s always liked him.

Laura’s cackling on the inside because _the look on Derek’s face._

Stiles, on the other hand, is gobsmacked, utterly gobsmacked. “Holy shit! I’m someone else’s Lydia!”

Erica laughs and the smile, bright and happy, transforms her whole face. She’s still wearing sweats and her hair is still a mess, but she seems just as pretty as she was meant to be. “Actually, I stopped liking you a while ago.”

Stiles seems disappointed now, but Isaac cuffs him on the back of the head and reminds him that he’s not the only one with a crush on Lydia.

It’s a running joke between all of them who Lydia will acknowledge first, Isaac or Stiles. (Isaac actually plays during games, but Stiles is Scott’s best friend.) There’s even a betting pool that Laura may or may not have started.

“Don’t worry,” Laura raises her eyebrow suggestively at Derek, “You’re still _someone’s_ Lydia, Stiles.”

Derek’s eyebrows scream, _I’m going to kill you._

Laura’s say, _I’m your alpha, bitch._

Stiles blinks, “What, really?”

-

Laura teaches Erica how to apply make-up, how to curl her hair and straighten it, how to feel confident in her own skin, and they go shopping on Saturday.

Erica wants the low-cut clothes, the tight tank tops, and the lingerie corset tops to wear underneath a fashionable leather jacket. Laura lets her get the jacket and everything else, but puts her foot down at the lingerie.

“Honey, while I respect your wishes to express yourself, your school has a dress code.” Laura reprimands. “Also, your mom would kill me because lingerie is expensive and we’re breaking her credit card as it is.”

Erica’s ditched the sweats and the ponytail; she’s wearing a shirt that fits and a cute skirt she dug out from her closet. She walks through the mall with a small smile on her face and she looks like she’s going to giggle every time someone from school does a double-take when they see her.

“You’re kind of perfect,” Erica beams at Laura. “I wish I was like you.”

“You’re great just the way you are.” Laura reassures her, but on the inside, she’s thinking of every time she wants to throw off responsibility and the evidence and just _kill_ Kate Argent, and she feels her heart break just a little bit more for this girl who wanted normal so much, she became a werewolf.

-

The bus driver, the video store guy, Harris…

They’re all pieces to a bigger puzzle.

Kate Argent blows into town with a wide smile on her face that grows wider when she sees Laura for the first time. The smile falls off when Derek puts the cuffs on her.

“I’m being arrested?” Kate asks, “For what?”

“The death of my family,” Laura smiles, sickly sweet as Kate’s fake innocence.

“That was years ago,” Kate laughs, “There’s a statue of limitations.”

Laura’s smile curves and her incisors peek out from underneath her upper lip slightly in an imitation of her fanged grin underneath full moon training sessions, “But that’s the thing, Katie; there’s no statue of limitations on murder.”

-

Laura hears them around town sometimes, the hunters that think they’re so stealthy. It’s almost embarrassing how often they forget that she’s a fucking werewolf.

“She scares me,” One admits to the other as they stare at the poptarts in the local market, “I know she’s a werewolf, but…”

“I know what you mean,” The other one agrees, snatching the strawberry poptarts away and putting them back on the shelf. He reaches for the s’mores one instead, “With how she’s doing everything, it’s so easy to forget that she’s not human.”

-

Allison comes into the office one day, crying and begging her to drop the charges against her aunt, but it’s clear that she has no idea how the legal system actually works.

“I know she’s your aunt, Allison,” Laura says tiredly, “But the fact remains that she _killed_ my family and I have proof and reasonable cause as to why and how she did it. I can’t drop the charges because I’m not suing her. The county is prosecuting her for the murder, not me.”

She knows Allison knows about the supernatural now, knows that Kate told her before she was arrested.

“Look, the Code says I have the right to kill her,” Laura sighs, “In fact, I technically have the right to retribution which means I have the right to kill not only her, but _up to eleven people_ in your family because that’s how many of mine she killed. I know it sucks, but I’m not killing her, Allison.”

Allison looks like she doesn’t know what to feel, halfway torn between justice and that this is her aunt.

“I…how could she do this?” She asks, slumping into one of the seats in front of Laura’s desk. “I don’t want her to go to jail, but I don’t…she killed almost your entire family? Just because you’re not human?”

_And sexually manipulated my brother._

“Not everyone in my family was a werewolf,” Laura says quietly.

Allison looks even more stricken.

“I had a little sister, Erin.” Laura takes out the pictures she keeps in an envelope in the locked, top drawer. She’s picking them apart carefully, and when she finds the one she’s looking for, she slides it across the desk to Allison, tapping at the girl sitting on Derek’s shoulders and reaching for Laura.

Like all of the other Hales, Erin had dark hair, but she had brown eyes, just like their mother. She was pale, just like Laura and she’s young enough in the photograph that she could grow up to look like anyone with dark hair and dark eyes.

“She looks like me,” Allison says aloud, even though Laura sees the Argent nose and the Collins eyes that Erin would have never had, “Aunt Kate set your house on fire and killed a little girl that looks like me.”

“She would be your age,” Laura says.

Allison laughs hysterically, “No, she’d be Scott’s age. I’m a year older than everyone else in my grade.”

-

Isaac moves on, but Stiles doesn’t.

It’s almost cute to see him tentatively asking out Allison, and though Scott hasn’t been seriously interested in her for months, Isaac still asks if it’s okay.

They’ve all come to an agreement and since Isaac isn’t a werewolf, Chris thinks it’s okay for them to date. Allison is still too torn up about Kate to accept, but she says later with a small smile.

Scott, on the other hand, is closer than ever to Erica, and there’s a lot of tentative, trying-not-to-step-on-toes-even-though-there-are-no-toes-to-step-on going on. He likes her, it’s clear, and she doesn’t like him back yet but she wants to give it a try.

They go to movies and out on dates and Scott is _glowing_.

His grades are doing better now that the pack’s more stable and he’s finally able to concentrate on school again. In theory, dating Erica should make them slip, but Erica’s not usually very comfortable going on actual dates and half the time, they make dates only to end up studying.

Stiles has view all of this as encouragement to go after Lydia.

“She has a boyfriend,” Erica points out. “That she likes, even though he’s a douche.”

Stiles is pouting but Derek’s brooding and pining and Laura’s not sure what’s worse.

-

The Alpha of the Farrow pack in Arizona comes up to Beacon Hills on a Tuesday evening and kills Kate Argent in her cell.

He times it extremely well, making sure no one will be hurt and slits Kate’s throat with a mountain lion’s paw. He scatters papers and other items and leaves the lion in her cell.

The Hales are not the only one with a grudge.

Chris Argent confronts Jem Farrow, who bares his fangs and tells them how Kate killed his wife and daughter, how his son is the only one left and he was never meant to be Alpha.

Gerard Argent comes for Kate’s funeral, citing his desire to avenge her.

He looks at Stiles for too long, with his eyebrows furrowed like he’s wondering where they’ve met before, but it’s only when Laura stands above him—“She told the Sheriff it was her father’s name, but Guillaume was her mentor and more of a father than you ever were.”—that he realizes too late.

“Retribution,” Laura says when Chris shows up at the apartment. “I think your father is worth the eleven deaths I’m allowed.”

-

“I’m an Argent,” Stiles says, staring out at the lake.

Laura sits beside him and says, “Only if you want to be.”

She can see him thinking about that, that she killed his grandfather, has hated his mother’s family for years, that his aunt killed almost everyone Laura loves.

“I’d rather be a Hale,” He admits, laying his head on her shoulder, “’s better to be pack than to be a hunter.”

“You are a Hale,” Laura says, laying a hand on the back of his neck and pressing her lips to the top of his head. “And you’re a Stilinski.”

-

It’s a gradual thing, but they notice that Stiles talks about Lydia less and less and eventually, the smell of teenage arousal becomes adoration and admiration whenever someone brings her up.

Sometimes though, Laura notices his gaze lingering a little too long on Derek. Sometimes, she sees the way Stiles’ eyes will flicker to Derek’s lips and then back up to his eyes. Sometimes, she sees the yearning etched so plainly on Stiles’ young face she wonders why no one else has noticed.

And then she realizes that _she’s_ the one who didn’t notice the way Stiles looks at her brother, when everyone has already figured it out ages ago.

But she’s the one who knows why Stiles is pining instead of being sickening sweet with Derek.

“You’re not Kate,” She says on the rare day they have breakfast alone, Peter out supervising the last details of the house and the others playing lacrosse. “You love him.”

“It’s not that,” Derek admits, voice cracking, “it’s…everyone I love dies.”

“Excuse you,” Laura raises an eyebrow.

Derek waves her off, “You and Peter are the exception. Mom, Dad, Erin, Aunt Dorene, Megan, Uncle Jess…I loved Kate once too, and she died.”

“Derek Hale, you listen to me and you listen _good_ ,” Laura sets down her fork and looks at him seriously over her pancakes, “You are not responsible for what that woman did. You are not a jinx. Do you want Stiles to get his happy ever after with someone else? You can’t keep punishing yourself, Der. You’ve done a lot of growing up and—“

“She knew about us because I told her!” Derek blurts, looking terrified.

Laura blinks, “I know.”

“…What?”

“Derek,” She sighs, “You’re still not a very good liar; I knew about Kate when she started it with you.”

“It was my fault,” The scent of guilt floods her senses and Laura’s eyes fill with tears.

“It wasn’t,” Laura promises, “I never blamed you. I want you to be happy, though”

“I am.” Derek lies.

“Derek,” Laura says.

He looks up from where he’s staring at the kitchen table, pain etched on his face and his eyes brimming with tears. It should be ridiculous, someone as handsome and broody and stubbly as her brother looking like someone killed his dog.

Which, actually, Kate did.

(The family dog was named Marlow, because Aunt Dorene loved Kit Marlow. Regardless of gender, she was going to name her baby Kit.)

“It’s not your fault,” Laura repeats, but on the inside, all she wants to do is break down and cry with him before she bottles up everything she feels and explodes in suffering and tears.

She doesn’t know what does it, but something clicks in Derek’s mind, and then realization crashes over him and he finally gets what she’s been repeating since they had to watch their family die when they could do nothing from outside the line of mountain ash, the human members too weak to get out and break it.

-

Derek and Stiles are dating now.

Laura pretends to be grossed out like the rest of them, but she knows they’re smart enough to hear the skip of her heart when she makes a face, to smell the happiness on her.

She toasts her parents and wonders aloud if she’s doing okay.

“You’re doing fine,” Peter tells her, kissing her the top of her head and dropping down onto the couch beside her. “They’d be proud, you know.”

“Thank you,” Laura says, and it’s not becoming of an Alpha, she knows, to be crying on her uncle’s shoulder, but she does it anyway.

Peter may be her beta, but he’s her uncle, first and foremost, and says nothing, only stroking her hair.

They pass the bottle of wine between them until it’s gone and neither of them say a word, just exchange small smiles, when Derek doesn’t come home.

(Isaac may not be a werewolf but he can smell the stench of wine on the two of them, but Peter and Laura are smiling and happy and he tells his stomach to stop churning, that they love him and they won’t hurt him.)

-

Magnus Farrow walks into her office one day and Laura seriously considers holding a town meeting and explaining that her office is her workplace and not a place to have heartfelt conversations.

He’s devastatingly handsome and he explains that his father has sent him here to improve relations between the Farrow and the Hale pack after Jem breached territory rules to kill Kate.

Laura’s never been uptight about boundary rules unless it was necessary and she’s fine with it now. It doesn’t hurt that Magnus Farrow asks her out to dinner and makes it very clear that he wants it to be a date.

Laura hasn’t been on a date in forever, but the Argents are okay for now, her pack is stable and happy, and if Derek and Peter can move on, why can’t she?

“I’d like that,” She tells him with a small smile, “I’d like that a lot.”

-

She’s made a mistake, turning teenagers.

“This is Boyd!” Erica says excitedly, “Can he join?”

“We’re not a cult,” Laura hastens to reassure him when Boyd begins to look distinctly uncomfortable. “I swear we’re not a cult.”

**Author's Note:**

> The Argents leave them alone because Laura's right; it's by her grace that they're not dead because she has the right to kill them.
> 
> Stiles has decided not to tell anyone else that he's an Argent but Derek. 
> 
> Peter ends up dating Mama McCall, but tentatively because he's still sort of grieving for his wife, Dorene. 
> 
> Isaac does get the bite later on, but in a life or death situation and by that time, he and Allison are already married so whatever.
> 
> Boyd doesn't get the bite, but he gets friends.
> 
> Magnus becomes Laura's alpha bitch. In traditional roles, she's alpha and he takes on the role of Alpha Female.
> 
> Also, pretend Magnus Fallow looks like Killian Jones aka Captain Hook from OUAT: http://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/32800000/Colin-O-Donoghue-killian-jones-captain-hook-32861094-500-700.png
> 
> And you all know my fancast for Laura Hale is Meghan Ory: http://i2.listal.com/image/4050391/600full-meghan-ory.jpg


End file.
